8 Cool Cloud Tools For iPad

Your iPad was built for the cloud. Check out some surprising things the iPad and cloud can do together.

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Great news! Microsoft Office has come to iOS. Well … sorta maybe. The new Office Mobile for iPhone is an intentionally neutered version that's optimized for a smartphone display. It also requires an Office 365 subscription, which costs $100 per year for the Home Premium plan. Sure, you can run Office Mobile on your iPad -- at 2x magnification -- but it's a subpar experience.

There's another option that's better for iPads: Office Web Apps, which has scaled-down versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and One Note. Documents are kept in the cloud on Microsoft's SkyDrive service. Using a browser, you sign into your Microsoft account, and then use Web Apps to create, edit and view documents. Web Apps have the same look and feel as traditional Office apps, although browser-based editing can be slow at times.

Software as a service is the clear No. 1 way enterprises consume cloud. InformationWeek's SaaS Innovation Survey reveals three tips to get the most from SaaS: Make it a popularity contest. Have an escape plan. And remember that identity is the new perimeter.